TULALIP – Arthur Estudillo and Abagail Pierman are the January Students of the Month, as picked by the Kiwanis and Soroptimist clubs.

Both are seniors at Arts and Technology High School.

Estudillo has a 3.67 grade point average, is on the National Honor Society and is a full-time Running Start student at Everett Community College.

He has been vice president of DECA and also of LAN, the school’s video game club. He also has been in drama, robotics and for two years has been secretary of his class.

Estudillo’s goal is to get a bachelor’s degree in computer science and game design from DigiPen then go to work for Nintendo or a similar company.

As for community service, he regularly donates blood and has helped run two blood drives.

“You can save lives by just sitting in a chair for twenty minutes,” he said.

He has also helped in the school’s computer repair lab, where they donated computers to Haiti.

He went to A&T because he wanted to be an artist, but changed his mind the middle of his sophomore year because it became too painful emotionally to draw. He’s been inspired by a few teachers, but especially Mr. (Darren) Sylte. He talked him into joining student council and also because, “He believed in me.”

Pierman has a 3.7 gpa has wanted to become an event planner, but more recently has been thinking about becoming a therapist.

“I’m blunt and honest,” she said. “People come to me because I tell the truth. I’ve helped support” a lot of people that way.

She plans to attend Columbia College at the Navy Exchange in Marysville.

Pierman said she decided on A&T because of the smaller class sizes and one-on-one work with teachers.

“There are no cliques,” she said. “We are all one people, like a family.”

She also said Sylte was her inspiration. He was her adviser on ASB. He said of her, “Abagail has never shied away from volunteering, stepping up or taking on a challenge.” He added she has great ethics and morals and has grown as a leader.

Pierman also is very involved in Yearbook, as she writes and takes photographs for it. She has worked with others on school dances, fund-raisers, its haunted house and more.

For community service, she helps out with movie nights, fall socials and other events at Sunnyside Elementary School.

Added to all that is Pierman also works part-time at Dairy Queen.